On-duty Wash. deputy suspended for yelling at umpire

PORT HADLOCK, WA — A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy has been suspended for five days without pay for yelling at a volunteer Little League umpire while the deputy was on duty and in uniform.

Deputy Darrin Dotson was in full duty gear, including a holstered gun, when he argued with an umpire who had called a strike against Dotson’s 10-year-old son.

Sheriff Mike Brasfield announced the suspension of Dotson on Thursday after meeting with Dotson and his union representative, saying Dotson violated the Sheriff’s Office’s rules of conduct. The suspension began on Saturday.

Brasfield says two of the suspension days will be dismissed if there is no similar occurrence during the next year.

The incident occurred April 21 at Bob Bates Field in Port Hadlock. East Jefferson Little League President Bob Eldridge says the umpire called the game after the argument with Dotson went on for some time. Eldridge says Dotson was barred from attending the next game his son’s team plays.

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